Buffing the Damp Mire Layer
"Buffing the Damp Mire Layer" is the 3rd episode of Devious Butlers. Summary Josh learns of the circumstances behind his boyfriend's deportation and grows furious, though Matthew seems more than willing to fight fire with fire. Ben tries quelling a fire of his own as his love for Justine burns too bright for him to be content with being just her friend, leading to some problems when Ali attempts to assert herself in the home, and Rena commiserates his recent lesson along with Liz, letting him in for more than he bargained for. Shocking discoveries are made all around though, as Joe digs into the initial layer of the mystery by questioning his very first suspect. Plot 'Teaser' Set in a detention center a little ways outside of Wikerly Hills, Joshua Gibbons sits at a table in a visiting room. He silently waits as the guards go to fetch the recently detained Juan Castillo, and while doing so he finds himself getting lost in deep thought. The shot pans around the back of his head as he thinks back... Years ago, during his senior school days, the back of Josh's head is seen as he walks through the halls being stared at and insulted. "Faggot!" one schoolboy shouts, "Have fun burning in hell!" Josh has no choice but ignore the hate being hurled at him. Not too long after that, Josh is seen from behind in the living room of his childhood home, having just come out as gay to his mother, Regina Gibbons. However, she is clearly not one to make things better for him either. "Get out," she says, raising her arm and pointing to the front door. Josh has no choice but to accept the discrimination he is being faced with. The camera pans around one last time, and Josh is now seen in the presence of none other than Juan Castillo. In a bedroom, the two are undressing one another, but Juan stops. "You know, you don't have to do this if you don't want to," he tells his new boyfriend. Josh takes a moment to consider this, but shakes his head. He has, or, he is convinced that he has no choice but to. And so they make love for the very first time. Josh is once again settled on in the present, as he snaps out of his thoughts and looks up to see a guard carting Juan over to him, wearing an orange jumpsuit. As he's sat down and the guard goes to stand on the sidelines, the first thing Josh can think of to say is that orange is certainly not Juan's color. The Mexican can tell his boyfriend is trying to make light of the situation, albeit failing, and so he gives a slight grin. "Look, we're going to get you out of this," Josh promises, but Juan shakes his head. "I'm going back to Guadalajara in the morning." Josh is confused, and Juan explains that he doesn't have enough money to pay for a lawyer and he needs to be spending time working in order to provide for his family back home. "I have a mother, three sisters and an elderly grandmother, Josh. They need me." But Josh shakes this head; he simply cannot accept this. "I've put away some money, maybe I can--" but Juan cuts his boyfriend off, refusing to accept any loans he is unsure he'll ever be able to pay back. "Then consider it a gift!" Josh pleads, despite still being refused. "I love you," Juan assures, "and hopefully one day we can be together again." "So now what? That's it?" Josh is left wondering, and Juan simply shrugs his shoulders; he points out that there's really nothing else to be said or done. Understanding this, Josh leans over the table to kiss his incarcerated beau. "I'll wait for you," he promises, and Juan nods, touched. With there being no more to do, the guard is motioned over to take Juan back to where he's being held until his deportation, and Josh goes to leave. However, as the butler goes to do so, Juan remembers. "Josh," he calls, getting his boyfriend's attention, "there's one more thing." Josh is confused, and so Juan continues, "I found out who reported me..." The butler awaits an answer as to who. Cut to the face of Matthew Winters, sitting in a lounging area of his home, reading a book. Nearby is Joanna, having a glass of wine and watching her daily soaps on TV. As the two silently go about spending time with one another, it goes interrupted, suddenly, upon the entry of Josh, who storms into the room. "Oh, Josh, how was your meeting with Juan?" Joanna wonders, but the butler simply ignores her. He instead makes his way over to her husband, knocking his book out of his hands, grabbing him by his shirt collar, pulling him in close and proceeding to punch right in the face. Joanna's jaw drops at the sight as her husband clutches his now bloody nose. Without saying a word, Josh walks away from the both of them, leaving Matthew to simply exclaim, "Fair enough." DEVIOUS BUTLERS 'Act I' Ali approaches the kitchen of the Del Barrio mansion with an empty silver tray; as she places it atop the counter, she breathes heavily and clutches her necklace, then having to let it go and continue with her evening. She is startled when she turns around and sees Jorgio standing there, half jumping out of her skin before telling him that he scared her. "Good," he replies with a flicker of an evil smile, then turning his attention to the kitchen counter. "You're using that tray again?" he notices, and she nods feverishly, at which his smug lips contort and his evil smile transforms into an evil frown. Ali appears frightened; curious, Jorgio pokes her in the shoulder and she quivers. "Look at you," he comments, "a shivering mess." "I-I'm sorry," she tries. "Don't be," Jorgio commands, "because that's what's going to get us into trouble. You being so damn… submissive." "I-I thought you preferred me that way. I-I thought—" "Do shut up," Jorgio commands further, and she does, rather defeating the point he's trying to make. "At the club, when that friend of yours stopped to talk, you couldn't even summon the courage to speak. You need to be more assertive, Alison. Less… nice," his eyes flash towards the tray again. "I'll try," Ali promises. "No you won't," Jorgio assures, "you'll just do it. Lest any of your other friends start getting suspicious." "Joanna Winters," Joe is heard saying over at the Wikerly Federal Prison where he's sitting on the visitors' side of the glass, speaking with Tyson via one of the telephones, "do you remember if Jose ever talked about her?" "I don't know," Tyson admits, "we never really hung out that much outside of Bible School." "Damn," Joe utters, which Tyson tells him is a bad word, and he apologizes. "I was hoping to approach this woman with a little more ammo." "Why? Is she dangerous?" Tyson wonders. "I don't know," Joe tells him, "and the truth is, I met her once before." "Did she hurt you?" "Not in a bad way," Joe assures, though Tyson can't really fathom what this might mean. After a moment with no talking, the inmate suddenly remembers something, telling the man who's fighting to get him out of prison that, "I don't know if this is helpful, but, I think Jose used to work for a lot of the other people in the area on his days off. Maybe he worked for this Joanna lady?" "Which would be how he got dirt on her to blackmail her with," Joe nods, "good… though I already have some idea of what the dirt might be." "How come?" Tyson wonders. "Because she's married," Joe replies, "and, like I said, I met her once before… and she didn't exactly behave like a married woman." At the Winters' mansion, Josh is seen sat at one of the dining room tables, polishing, rather vigorously, some of the silverware. Joanna is sat next to him, with a glass of wine as well as the bottle itself. "You want a drink?" she wonders, wishing to make the butler feel better, but he shakes his head. Joanna feels bad, wishing to do something to help her friend. "Look, I know my husband's an ass," she says, "and if you wanna vent about him then you can. I'm all ears." "If only he had been molested by a priest as a child," is all Josh replies, proceeding to get up and storm off. "And you have every right to wish that," Joanna calls out after him, proceeding to top off her glass and drink. Josh is next seen walking through the halls of the mansion, clearly just wanting some time alone and away from everyone else. While doing so, he just so happens to walk past one of Matthew's offices, thus alerting the employer's attention. Seeing now to be as good a time as any, Matthew gets up to go after the butler. "Hey, Joshie," Matthew calls out to his employee, who doesn't both turning back, but instead offers him an obscene hand gesture and continues walking. This doesn't make Matthew give up though, as he continues to pursue the young man, finally catching him at a hall turn. "Jesus Christ, what is it that you want?!" Josh finally barks, to which Matthew demands the lord's name not be used in vain inside his home. "Blow me." Matthew sighs, trying his best to keep composure, and he proceeds to pull a brochure out of his jacket pocket, handing it to the butler. "Oh what hell is this?" Josh adds, grabbing the brochure from his employer, reading the name of To Pray the Gay Away. Josh goes to punch his employer again, but this time Matthew is able to react within enough time and dodge it. "So I take it you're not interested?" he questions, to which Josh replies merely by ripping the brochure in half. "You are the absolute scum of the earth," Josh exclaims. "What is even going through your head, you sick bastard?" "Oh just hold on now," Matthew defends, "I get you're upset about that fag's deportation but you must remember he gained access to this country illegally. I was just doing my civil duty as an American citizen." "He was working. He was trying to take care of his family." "He was a criminal. He was just another alien stealing our jobs." "Oh, my God," Josh says, unable to do anything but laugh in disbelief at how one person could be so narrow-minded. Matthew, grimacing at the lord's name once again being taken in vain, continues that Juan was nothing but bad news and he was just doing Josh, as well as Joanna, a favor by getting rid of him when he did. "You did it because he was gay. Quit denying it." "While him being gay wasn't gaining him any points, you gotta admit that he was not a good person." "Leave me the hell alone," Josh says in an attempt to end the conversation, proceeding to continue down the hall. "I wanna save your soul, Joshua," Matthew calls. "At the end of the day I just want to put you back on the path of righteousness and get you right with our Lord and Savior. This camp in the brochure can help." "And I'd like a blowjob right about now but you managed to get my usual source for that kicked out of the country." The butler continues down the hall, but Matthew gives him one last message: "Joshua, you will go to this conversion camp. If not then I will make your life... difficult." Josh, however, still isn't having it, and continues down the hall, to Matthew's dismay. Ben and Justine are browsing the Industrial Wik-E-Mart a few blocks away, with Ben telling his "friend" as he pushes her shopping cart around for her that it sure was nice of her employers to give her the day off. "Well," Justine acknowledges, "Rena got his off day to film that soap, so it's only fair." Looking in the cart, Ben wonders how she's able to afford a new mini-fridge on a maid's salary, to which she replies, "I took little summer bonus from Mrs. Liz's purse." This comes as a surprise to Ben, who queries, "You stole it?" but Justine assures, "She won't miss it, trust me. You steal wine, I am more direct. I do it every year, and every year she doesn't care. I work hard for her, and I need the money, so…" "You're so bad," Ben says playfully, to which Justine smiles and tells him, "The longer you know me, Benjamin, the more you realize I like to live dangerously." She giggles upon saying this, then referring to a shopping list she's devised as she asks Ben if he can pick up some of the fresh produce she needs from aisle 6. "Sure," he nods, referring to the list himself so that he knows what to get, and she tells him, "Thank you, Ben. You're such a good friend." He winces as he heads for aisle 6. When Ben returns to the aisle with brown bags full of groceries, he sees from afar Justine still standing by the cart, only now she's talking and laughing with the handsome clerk. "Can't leave her alone for five damn minutes…" he mutters. Ben looks around as though wondering if there are any children about whose soccer balls he can kick in their general direction, then lifting an orange out of the bag and wondering if perhaps he could use that, though ultimately he decides against it. Eventually, Justine accepts a slip of paper from this handsome stranger - his phone number - before he walks away, at which point Ben steps in. "Who was that?" he wonders immediately. "That was Jared," she reveals, slipping his phone number into her pocket, "isn't he cute?" "I… what?" Ben questions, and Justine just laughs again. "Thanks you, Benjamin," she tells him. "For what?" he wonders, and she tells him, "Your interest in me… it's given me confidence, to start putting myself out there again." "What a great friend I am," Ben murmurs monotonically. In the kitchen of the Davis house, Rena is seen sat at one of the tables, with a cup of coffee while waving a feather duster in the air as if he's dusting something off. He's taken out his phone and called agent Yas, wondering if she's found anymore parts for him. On the other side of the line, Yas is seen quite annoyed, in a gross bathroom stall with a line of cocaine spread across the toilet seat. "Yaaaaas, bitch," she exclaims, "except yeah, no, I'm busy. Call ya back?" she asks, without waiting for a response and proceeding to hang up on her client. Rena, meanwhile is left confused, but decides to direct his attention to alcohol, in celebration of the lesson he learned days before. Seeing that no one is looking, he pulls a wine bottle out from underneath the table and slips a little of it into his coffee. Going to take a sip though, he is startled by the arrival of Liz and Eli. Rena is forced to react fast, slipping the wine back under the table as his two employers have begun fighting. "We just got back from filming your last movie, I'm sick of traveling!" Liz argues, "Why can't you just take some time off or work in town?" Eli, however, points out that at the moment he has a featured career. "I'm moving on up in the world, Liz. I can't let anything hold me back." "Not even your wife, who you're supposed to love with all your heart?" Eli can't help but smile, then kissing her on the cheek. "A driver from the airport should be here soon to pick me up. You are more than welcome to join me." Liz is still not up for it though, not even if it is Rome that her husband is leaving for. In a last ditch effort to prevent her husband from leaving, she tries to argue that it's a sequel. "Sleepless in Sicily may have been great, but everyone knows that sequels are disasters. I myself would never subject myself to one." This doesn't change Eli's mind though, who simply gives his wife another kiss and goes to leave to wait for his car. On his way out he gives Rena a nod, letting him know that he was quite aware of the butler listening in on his and his wife's conversation. "Well this is a nightmare," Liz exclaims, taking a seat next to Rena and putting her head down on the table. Rena wonders what's wrong with being alone for a little while, and so Liz admits she gets lonely very easily. "Eli and I may not always be the happiest, but it's nice to at least have him around." Rena understands this, and questions if there's anything he can do that may help her. Liz thinks, and reminds him that Justine has the day off. "You could get some cleaning done," she tries, but this is clearly not what Rena was hoping for. He finally pulls the wine bottle out from under the table, surprising Mrs. Davis. "I can do you one better," he says, going to get her a glass. Liz is up for it. 'Act II' Joe takes a break from buffing the floors of the Del Barrio mansion, noticing the time, and takes out his cell phone so that he can call Josh, having added the butlers to his contact list ever since having been accepted into their little circle of friends. The phone rings for a moment, and then eventually Josh answers from the Joanna and Matthew's mansion. "Hey, Josh," Joe says, "I was just wondering, what if the guys and I met you at the Winters' place for our lunch break today? I mean, I'm sure you're still cut up about Juan, you shouldn't have to exert yourself. We'll come over and comfort you." "That's… very nice of you considering I've known you for like three days," Josh points out, at which Joe tells him, "What can I say? I'm a nice person." Josh says that he isn't sure about having everybody over since he's usually not expected to bring guests. "So it will annoy Mr. Winters," Joe acknowledges, "isn't that all the more reason to do it?" Josh smiles at this. "Yunno? I didn't always wanna be an actor," Liz exclaims, as Rena refills her glass, "I actually wanted to be a veterinarian." The butler is quite surprised by this, never having thought his boss was quite so fond of animals. "Oh yeah I love them, but I can't really speak out about that now because there's already some Aussie actress who does, so animal charities are sorta her turf." Rena feels for his boss; he wonders why it is she went down this career path, to which she reveals that no one ever thought she was smart enough to do anything else. "My looks have always been my everything, so that landed me a few roles early on and it just kind of evolved from that." "What exactly were you doing at the start?" Rena wonders, hoping to gain some knowledge to help boost his own career. "Well, it may surprise you, but... yeah I did about seven pornos." In reality, Rena isn't that surprised at all, but he decides to go along with it and play the part. Liz continues that she was low on money at the time and she was originally discovered in New York. "They were these cheesy low budget films that sold mostly in eastern Europe and parts of Asia. Luckily they did pretty bad and all the copies have basically disappeared off the face of the earth." Rena nods, listening as his employer goes on, all the while secretly determined to find and watch said pornos. Liz adds that getting a career off the ground was no easy work; it took a lot of time and patience. "I was once turned down for an episodic role on Game of Thrones because I kept getting topless despite the scene not really calling for it. I tried to reason with the director that it'd be more fitting, but I guess he didn't think so. Meanwhile, my Wikipedia page reads like a suicide note, and don't even get me started on IMDb..." "Well," Rena exclaims, "I think that, despite everything you may have gone through, you are a terrific actress." Liz is touched by this. "Aw, that's so sweet," she says, to which Rena wonders if she had planned to say the same to him. There's a moment of silence before Liz suggests, "More wine?" hoping to steer away from the topic. In the security room of the Del Barrio mansion, Jorgio is watching over some recent tapes and sighing, viewing videos of his wife heading downstairs with that silver tray of hers, with a lovely meal plated up on it. He uses the remote to flick to another tape on another screen, this time viewing the wine cellar a few days ago. He squints in confusion as the door opens, and he sees Ben heading inside to steal a bottle of champagne for his "friend date" with Justine (see "Custodian Horror Story"). "Son of a bitch," Jorgio grunts, then using the remote again to view the actual date in the East Wing. "Honey?" Ali says nervously as she roams the outside hallway, "Where are you?" "In here," Jorgio summons, and Ali cautiously makes her way into the screen-filled room. "What're you doing?" she wonders, at which he points at the screen to show her the dinner taking place between Ben and Justine days prior. "I'm not following," she tells him, and he sighs again, reminding her, "I told you not to allow guests in this house, yet you allow Ben to stage a date with some blonde, using our champagne!" "I had no idea that he…" Ali cowers, then deciding to point out, "We have enough champagne…" "I don't care about the champagne!" Jorgio screams, "I care that he took it from the damn wine cellar! Meaning he was in the damn wine cellar! So damn close…" "Oh…" Ali understands, "I don't think you have to worry about Ben happening upon any—" "I shouldn't have to be worried about it in the first place!" "You're right," Ali nods, "I'm sorry, I should've told him not to invite anyone over. Are you, um… are you gonna fire him?" Jorgio pauses at this, eventually saying, "No," to his wife's relief. He then adds: "You're going to be handling this, my dear." "M-me?" she quivers. "Consider it practice; you will approach Ben and you will be authoritative with him, or so help me…" "Got it," Ali nods, "I-I'll set him straight." Jorgio stares her down in response. Joe, Ben and Josh are shown having some coffee over at the latter's place of employment: the Winters' mansion. "So," Ben is saying, "how are you finding it in the Del Barrio mansion?" "Fine," Joe replies, "though sleeping's kinda hard; does the house seem kinda noisy to you at night?" "You get used to it. It's an old house, lots of faulty pipework and such," Ben assures, then sighing with sadness and leading Josh to ask him what's wrong. Ben says that Josh doesn't want to hear his troubles right now, having to deal with enough of his own, but Josh actually welcomes the distraction. Ben then proceeds with, "I'm starting to think Justine and I are just… never gonna happen. It's like she's attracted to every other man on Earth apart from me." "Rena would be thrilled," Josh points out. "Where is Rena?" Joe wonders. "Does he know we're meant to be meeting here?" Ben wonders further, to which Josh replies that he left him a message, but he never replied. "He should be here to comfort you in your time of need," Ben points out, then giving his proper condolences for Juan's deportation. Josh thanks him, and Joe tells him, "Well at least you've got us. We won't be leaving your side until you are feeling a million times better." It is then that Joanna walks on by, briefly glancing at the three butlers before heading into the kitchen; Joe sees this and quickly, and bluntly, tells the others, "Well, I gotta go to the bathroom, bye." He then gets up and heads in the same direction, with Josh looking confused as he wonders, "Do you think I should tell him the bathroom's the other way?" Ben shrugs, and the two of them continue to chat at the same time that Joe stands in one end of the kitchen and sees Joanna pouring herself a glass of wine in the other. This forces him to think back… In flashback, Joanna pours herself a large glass of wine from that extraordinarily expensive bottle she ordered, on the same night that she and Joe met in that bar. He is commiserating the fact that he's just been fired from the police force, and as such she asks him if he'd like a glass of his own, since she's buying, but he declines, assuring that he's had enough. "'Enough'," she chuckles, "what a novel concept," and then she drinks. She proceeds to ask him what his name is, and he sadly tells her, "I'm Detective Joseph DeWar… at least I used to be." "Oh, honey," she replies, patting his back, "nevertheless, it's nice to meet you. I'm Emilie." She shakes his hand, and he tells her that it's nice to meet her as well. "No you're not," he replies, to her confusion, and he reminds her, "I was a detective, remember? I saw you pay using your credit card; your name is Joanna Winters." "Very good," she smiles, "though you can't blame me for using a phony name in such a place as this." "What are you doing in a place like this? A woman like you, with your money, should be at some fancy cocktail party, not some dive bar." "Well," she replies, "I'm not like most women with money." "I gathered," he replies in turn, mustering a genuine smile, and she suggests that he accept that drink of hers he turned down and tell her a little bit about himself, while he uses his magic detective skills to tell her everything about her he could possibly need to know. "I'd like that," he says, before she adds, "Actually, you can skip the first part. I think I already know everything I need to know about you." "And how's that?" he wonders, at which she leans forward and whispers in his ear, "I'm quite the detective myself." He laughs, as does she, and then she starts pouring him a drink. Being a detective, he notices the tan line on her finger where her wedding ring has clearly been slid off, though he decides to ignore it and simply enjoy this beautiful woman's company for the night. Back in the present, Joe goes to approach Joanna at the other end of the kitchen but is suddenly intercepted by Matthew, who enters the room via another of its several doorways. "Who are you?" the rich man asks, and Joe, nervous and startled, can barely think of a thing to say. "You're not another of Josh's boyfriends, are you? Damn those gays move fast…" "No, I'm no—" "You know what it says in the Bible about homosexuality, don't you?" he tries to clarify, and Joe tells him, "I'm actually not that familiar with the Bible." Drinking her wine, Joanna finally registers this conversation taking place a few feet away from her and decides to listen in, while Matthew replies, "Of course you're not. You probably prefer books about… trysts and, and… Satan, I don't know." "Well I do love a good villain," Joe quips, making Joanna smirk. "A funny man," Matthew nods, "God isn't particularly fond of the 'funny'." "If he likes you, then certainly not," Joe replies, "though there's no need to worry. I don't exactly believe in God. Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to get by? Me and my butler friends are here comforting Josh and I left to go to the bathroom, we're not… having a 'tryst' or whatever you might think." "Right…" Matthew mutters, stepping out of the way and eventually leaving the kitchen, and Joe rolls his eyes as he watches him go. "That was fun to watch," Joanna comments, clearly liking what she sees when she looks at him, "you work in the area?" "Uh-huh. For the Del Barrios," he confirms. "Of course," Joanna nods, "replacing that butler of theirs who was murdered. I take it you heard?" "I did," Joe assures. "Terrible thing," she acknowledges, then telling him, "if you're looking for a bathroom, you might wanna try heading in the other direction. There's one just down the hall on—" "Actually," Joe interrupts, "I was hoping to talk to you, Mrs. Winters. Is there… anywhere we could talk in private?" She raises an eyebrow at this, intrigued. Meanwhile, Josh and Ben remain in the other room, just sitting in silence. "So..." Ben exclaims, to which Josh replies the exact same, really not knowing what the two of them should talk about. "I was thinking of getting Mexican food for dinner. You want in?" Ben wonders, only for Josh to glare at him; Ben quickly realizes his error. From nearby, however, Matthew can overhear the talking coming from the kitchen. As he peeks in and notices Josh and Ben conversing, he decides that perhaps he'll have some fun. Matthew is next seen in another area of the Winters' mansion where he finds a fire alarm on the wall. "This oughta be good," he exclaims, proceeding to pull it. Not only does the alarm go off, alerting everyone from every corner of the mansion, but it also turns on sprinklers that start pouring everywhere. Back at the table, Josh and Ben find themselves startled by the ongoing alarm, and are instantly blasted with bursts from the sprinklers. "Oh what the hell?!" Josh exclaims, as he and Ben get to their feet and start heading for an exit. Due to the size of the home, however, it takes them a while to get out the front door, and they find themselves drenched in the process. Matthew soon makes his way out as well though, walking rather slowly, toting an umbrella over his head. "Hello, boys," he exclaims with a smirk. "What's going on?!" Josh wonders, to which Matthew points out rather fast that there's no fire. "I was just having some good ole fun." "Are you out of your mind?!" the butler wonders, "What do you want?!" Matthew then pulls out a new brochure from his coat pocket and hands it to him. "I want you to pray the gay away, Joshua." Josh is clearly annoyed by this, and Ben himself looks a bit uncomfortable. "You do know your associate is a faggot, right?" Matthew says to Ben, "I'm just trying to help prevent this faggot from spending all of eternity burning in hell." Ben doesn't quite know how to respond to this, and Josh wonders if there's a point Matthew is trying to make with all this. "Well just think, if you'd just go to the conversion camp then you wouldn't have to suffer from... stuff like this," Matthew says. Josh wonders if this means he plans to keep the stuff like this up. "Oh most certainly. So far it's been quite a splash," he replies, with a smirk. With that, Matthew walks away from the two butlers, leaving Josh unnerved. 'Act III' The smoke alarm continues ringing away as, inside the Winters' mansion, the sprinklers finally come to a stop. "Shouldn't you go see what's going on?" Joe wonders as he and Joanna stand outside, by the pool, with her nursing the glass of wine glued to her hand, but she simply shrugs in response, telling him, "Meh. If there's a fire, there's a fire. Nothing in that house is particularly precious to me anyway, least of all my husband, and it's not like we haven't got good insurance." "You don't care if your home might be burning away?" Joe questions, but she shushes him, assuring, "Honey, it's fine. I'm pretty sure I heard Matthew muttering to himself earlier about how he was gonna pull something like this to get Josh to go to straight camp or something, I dunno. Besides, all the booze I have stashed away in there, if there really was a fire the place would've exploded by now. Anyway, let's stop talking about my house and start talking about what you wanna talk about. Why did you request a private chat with me anyhow?" "Right," Joe says, sitting down side-saddle on a pool chair when she does the same, finally putting her wine glass down on a nearby patio table. "Mrs. Winters, you were familiar with Jose Sanchez, yes? The butler you mentioned earlier who, um…" "The one who died? Sure… He was one of the first butlers in the area although, truth be told, I'm the one who made it into a trend. We had to fire the last cleaning lady we had because she got a little too 'handsy' with Matthew, so I decided to replace her with a cleaning man - your friend Josh - and pretty soon everyone in Wikerly Hills was trading in their old maids for butlers. They're like the new male nannies. So basically, what I'm saying is, you're welcome for your employment." She grabs the wine glass again and toasts, taking a sip, and Joe replies with, "Thank you?" before wondering if Jose ever worked for her on his days off. "Maybe," Joanna tells him, not really recalling, "my memory isn't great. I don't know if you noticed, but, I'm kind of a drinker." "Oh," Joe nods, "explains why you don't remember me." "Come again now?" she asks, and he inquires, "Mrs. Winters, have you ever… cheated on your husband?" "That is none of your business…" Joanna makes clear, offended, and Joe tells her, "I think it is. You see, a few years ago, the two of us, we, um… we met in a dive bar and we… we…" "We what?" she questions, to which he finally spits out, "We had a one-night stand." "Oh," she murmurs, and then, "oh!" as the memories suddenly flood her head. "You were the cop who got fired," she remembers, "and now you're a butler… I guess I take back what I said about your employment; the economy has hit us all rough, huh? Well, not me of course, nor any of the people I socialize with on a daily basis, but, yeah." "Indeed," he nods, pretending to be ashamed, "and I was just wondering—" "If perhaps you could have another spin on the merry-go round? Sorry, kid. I don't do that anymore." "But you used to? More?" he tries interrogating, and she simply says, "I guess… I mean, you have to understand, my marriage to Matthew is… far from perfect. He just doesn't make me happy. So I would go out and find strangers and… they'd make me happy." "And now?" "Now, I have other things to make me happy," she assures, gesturing her wine glass and sipping from it yet again. "If you don't mind my asking… how discrete were your little… encounters?" he asks. "I don't 'mind' you asking, all I wish to know is why you're asking in the first place. I already told you, I'm not interested in starting an affair." "I'm just curious to know if anyone could have ever found out about the two of us, like… your husband or… or that dead butler, or…" he tries. "Why? You embarrassed?" she wonders jokingly, and he assures, "No, I'd just… rather it didn't get out. For your sake as well as mine." "You have no need to worry," Joanna promises him, "my husband has no idea and, as for that butler you keep bringing up, well… he's dead now. So even if he did find out somehow… what's it matter?" "Yeah, I… guess you're right." "So… unless you're about to blackmail me or something… are we done here?" "Guess so," Joe tells her, then wondering, "have you ever been blackmailed for… anything?" Joanna shrugs, asking him, "Who would ever wanna blackmail me? I'm adorable." She finishes the last dregs of wine from her glass and Joe smiles as he tells her, "Yeah, you kind of are. Although, I do have one more question. What was with the name Emilie?" "Oh, that," she comes to remember, "just the name of an actress I'm a fan of. Aussie; big into animals; kinda her turf. I don't suppose you've ever seen Lost? I'd tell you what other show she's in but if you told me you've watched that then I'd have to lose all respect for you as a person." He smiles. Ben re-enters the Del Barrio mansion, still wet from the sprinklers, and immediately he is stormed upon by Ali, who tries and fails to look imposing. "Benjamin!" she yells, "Where were you?!" "I was over at the Winter—" "I don't care!" Ali screeches, "You're, um… you're a very bad butler!" "What?" he asks, confused. "You stole our wine for your date with the neighbors' maid, and, um… don't! Ever again! It was very wrong of you, Ben!" Her yelling is too cute for him to take her seriously, and eventually, he just says, "I'm sorry. I really like Justine and… I just wanted her to like me back." Ali looks like she feels sorry for him, but she knows that Jorgio is right around the corner, and so she just coldly tells him, "This better not happen again, or else you're fired. And if you continue seeing this girl around our home, well… the same applies." She then walks away in such a manner that actually is somewhat imposing, and Ben is left surprisingly subdued. Over at the Davis household, Rena and Liz are continuing to drink as the doorbell rings. "Are either of you going to get that?" Justine, having returned home at some point, asks as she emerges on the scene, but they barely register her existence and so she just rolls her eyes and answers the door. She is surprised to see it's Ben, and Rena spots him from the kitchen, drunkenly exclaiming, "Hey, it's Bean! Bean is here! Hi Bean!" "What up, Bean?" Liz adds. "Hi Rena, hi Mrs. Davis…" Ben murmurs in response, but Justine, annoyed by the two drunkards, ushers Ben outside and closes the door behind herself so as to give the two of them some privacy, wondering what it is he wants. "I just came over here to tell you, that, um… my boss spoke to me, and she said that I can't see you anymore. You see, she knows I stole that—" Suddenly, Justine takes Ben and she kisses him passionately, to his shock. When finally she pulls away, he asks her what that was for, and she reminds him, "I told you, Benjamin. I like to live dangerously, and nothing is hotter than forbidden love." She kisses him again, and then asks him why he's all damp. "Never mind that," Ben begs, and Justine comments, "Mystery… even more hotter!" and another kiss is planted on his lips; when this one is over, he asks, "What about your friend Jared?" "What about him?" she asks in turn, and then the passionate make-out session on the doorstep continues, to Ben's extreme joy. Josh is seen in the backyard of the Winters' mansion, hanging out his soaked clothes to dry, having changed into new ones. While doing so, he is once more approached by Matthew, brochure in tow. "I've done some thinking," he begins, "and I've decided that I really can't be bothered with screwing with you anymore to get you to go to straight camp. It just takes too much time and effort, so I've come up with a new idea." But Josh stops him right there, having had enough. As he hangs up his last piece of clothing, he turns to Matthew and shakes his head. "No," he exclaims, "you can take your new plan and shove it. I'm done. If you bring straight camp up again, even one more time, I will quit and I will not hesitate to take advantage of Joanna's large supply of liquor and use it to burn your mansion down for real. I may clean your home and cook your meals but outside of that you have absolutely no control over my life and this is the last time you are going to even try to impose on me the way you have been." Matthew goes to speak, but the butler still isn't done yet. "Yes, I like men. I'm here and I'm queer and that's just how it is. Your 'god' made me like this so you are done trying to change me. Got it?!" But Matthew simply smiles. He approaches Josh, putting an arm around his shoulders. "Oh dear Joshua, you seem to have forgotten something: I got that tan-skinned pole-smoker deported... which means I can get you deported." The sound of this makes Josh tense up, and he steps away from Matthew, who continues, "Need I remind you, you're from England and in this country on a work visa. I could simply fire you right now, put in a quick phone call, and have you hauled off by officers within the hour." "You wouldn't dare," Josh claims, "Joanna would never let you." "I can handle Joanna." "You're lying." "Do you really want to take that risk, though?" Josh goes silent. Matthew hands the brochure to Josh. "C'mon, Mr. Gibbons, check it out. I'll go with you, even. It'll be fun." Josh simply stares at his boss, who concludes that the butler will thank him for this one day. With that, he walks away. Focus on two empty wine glasses which are soon refilled to the top, the last of a bottle being poured in by Rena. "Cheers," Liz exclaims, and she and the butler clink their glasses. At this point in the evening both are pretty wasted, and so the topic of conversation has taken a turn. The two of them delve more into sexual experience, with Rena revealing that when first losing his virginity he accidentally penetrated the wrong hole. Liz chokes a little at this, but in turn shares that the first time for her involved her high school chemistry teacher. "It was fun until he wanted to start mixing stuff and... experiment." "Ouch?" The two both laugh. Rena is feeling pretty comfortable with Liz right now; while he may be intoxicated, he's felt quite so close to anyone before. "I like to be spanked," he says, to which Liz raises an eyebrow. "Yeah," he continues, "feeling my hot brown ass turn red. Great feeling." Liz smirks at this, commenting, "Well I mean, if this is where things are going, maybe we should take this elsewhere..." Liz then stands up, asking for Rena's hand. The butler's original smile quickly fades though; he's wondering what he just did, believing Liz is taking him somewhere private to seduce him. Down the halls of the Davis house, Rena is being rushed by Liz, all the while cautious as to what she's doing. They come to a room at the end of the hall, leaving Rena to wonder, "What are we doing at your extra closet?" She doesn't answer him though, but instead opens the door... and then moves some clothing aside to reveal another door. She puts her index finger over her lips, smiling, motioning Rena to follow her as she reveals to him a dirty little secret of hers. Once inside, Rena realizes exactly what is going on... Through the depths of Liz's closet is none other than a room full of BDSM-related equipment. "That porno I did was a fetish piece for people into S&M. It's how I discovered my love for dominating men," she explains as she stares at it all, from tables to strap someone down, to cages, to ballgags and whips, electrical shocking devices and more. It's all there, right before Rena. "Liz..." he exclaims, but turns to find her now holding a whip. Without being given a chance to react, Liz then kicks Rena in the leg, knocking him to the ground. "Son of a bitch!" he exclaims, but is then smacked across the back with the whip Liz possesses. "It's Mistress Elizabeth to you," she exclaims. Rena doesn't realize what he's just gotten himself into. Ali is seen preparing the silver tray of food in the kitchen and, when she picks it up and goes to leave the room, Jorgio is standing there, giving her a fright. "You really have to stop doing that," she insists. "Now now," Jorgio calms, "just because you got all assertive with Ben doesn't mean that crap is gonna fly with me… though let's go see if it resonates with your former roommates." "You mean… you're gonna accompany me tonight?" she questions, to which he replies, "I surely am." Ali walks nervously out of the kitchen, tray firmly in hand, as Jorgio follows her. They go down the many twisting staircases of the mansion, descending underground, passing the wine cellar and heading into the hallway opposite, where a door has been painted to look like the brick of the wall. Jorgio clicks the light on for his wife, who places the tray down on a small nearby table, then taking her necklace and inserting the pendant into the door's lock, crouching down to give it a twist. For a moment, we hear the same noises Joe heard on his first night in the mansion. As the door unlocks, Ali picks the tray back up and opens the door, walking into the shadows. Jorgio follows her in. "What do you normally do?" he wonders, "Leave the tray on the floor?" She nods to him, and he tells her that he'd like her to try something else tonight; something more in-keeping with her newfound assertiveness. "What would you have me do?" Ali wonders, at which Jorgio takes a handful of food from the tray… and throws it onto the floor. Ali doesn't like this, but her husband encourages her to do it too. He has her put the tray down, pick up a handful, and throw it forward. She does so, crying, and he tells her that she shouldn't do that, "You're not one of them anymore. You're upstairs now. And the rich wives of Wikerly Hills have nothing to cry about." Again, he makes her throw some food into the center of the room and, from the shadows, a shackled hand emerges to pick it up. It is slim; feminine. And then another hand joins it, wanting in on the food as more of it is thrown. Another chained woman partakes, and then another; more and more hands bound to the wall. The sound of chains clanking. Another hand, and then another, and then another… Unanswered Questions *''Who murdered Jose Sanchez?'' *Why was Jorgio threatening Jose, and vice versa? *What did Jose tell the butlers that they think might be the reason he was killed? *Why was Joe fired from the police force? *Why was Joe abandoned as a baby? *Why did Jorgio steal and smash the security tape? *What did Jorgio mean when he threatened to send Ali back to where she started? *Who did Justine's heart belong to and how did he betray her? *What was the situation surrounding Ben's past relationship? *What are the strange noises in the Del Barrio mansion? *What did Jose find out about Joanna? Was it her affairs, or something else? *What is Joe and Joanna's past connection? *'Why do the Del Barrios keep chained-up women in their basement?' Category:Season 1 Episodes